Atlantic City Casino Dealer Wins Workers’ Compensation for Car Crash

After over a year of mixed opinions, a N.J. Superior Court’s Appellate Division has granted workers’ compensation to an employee who was injured in a car accident while leaving work.

The accident took place on the evening of September 19, 2012. Carla Burdette, a casino dealer at Harrah’s Atlantic City, was walking to her car in Harrah’s parking yard after her shift ended at 10:00 p.m. Burdette was leaving her employer’s internal driveway by way of a legal left turn when her Ford Explorer was struck by an oncoming Toyota Camry.

Images from security cameras showed that the accident occurred between the private driveway and public highway MGM Mirage Boulevard. The Camry struck the Explorer on the driver’s door.

In October of the same year, Burdette filed a workers’ compensation claim petition with the NJ Division of Workers’ Compensation for her injuries. Harrah’s denied responsibility for the claim in January 2013, at which point Burdette was receiving temporary medical benefits.

A judge for the Division of Workers’ Compensation ruled in favor of Burdette’s claim in May 2013. According to New Jersey State Workers’ Compensation Law, any employee who is injured on an employer’s premises may be considered within their course of employment. The judge found that Burdette’s car was partly over Harrah’s driveway’s apron, leaving about one foot of the car’s length on the property at the time of the crash.

Harrah’s tried to appeal the decision in the appellate court, but were denied. According to the appellate court, Burdette “never fully left her employer’s premises,” and is entitled to her medical benefits.

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